Regular Meeting

City of Elko ) County of Elko ) State of Nevada ) SS June 28, 2022 The City Council of the City of Elko, State of Nevada met for a regular meeting beginning at 4:00 PM, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. The meeting was held in the council chambers, 1751 College Ave., Elko. This meeting was called to order by Mayor Reece Keener. The public can watch the meeting by phone, tablet, laptop, or computer by going to the link provided on the agenda. Questions can be sent to cityclerk@elkocitynv.gov. I. CALL TO ORDER The Agenda for this meeting of the City of Elko City Council has been properly posted for this date and time in accordance with NRS requirements. II ROLL CALL . Present: Reece Keener, Mayor Mandy Simons, Councilwoman Chip Stone, Councilman Clair Morris, Councilman Giovanni Puccinelli, Councilman City Staff Present: Diann Byington, Recording Secretary Curtis Calder, City Manager Jeff Ford, Building Official Jim Foster, Airport Manager Cathy Laughlin, City Planner Michele Rambo, Development Manager Jack Snyder, Fire Chief Dave Stanton, City Attorney Dennis Strickland, Public Works Director Bob Thibault, Civil Engineer Kelly Wooldridge, City Clerk Jan Baum, Financial Services Director Candi Quilici, Accounting Manager Susie Shurtz, Human Resources Manager III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE VI. PRESENTATION June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 1 of 29  C. Presentation of a Retirement Plaque to Sergeant Matthew Locuson, Police Department for his 27 years and 2+ months to the Citizens of the City of Elko, and matters related thereto. INFORMATION ONLY-NON ACTION Mayor Keener presented Matthew Locuson with a plaque in recognition of his many years of service to the City of Elko. Matthew Locuson said a few words in appreciation. Lieutenant Palhegyi spoke about his service and congratulated him on his retirement. A. Presentation of a Retirement Plaque for Karen Walther, Animal Shelter Manager, and her many years of service to the City of Elko, and matters related thereto. INFORMATION ONLY-NON ACTION ITEM Mayor Keener presented Karen Walther with a retirement plaque. He expressed the City's appreciation for all that she has done. Karen Walther thanked the people in the room for their support. Curtis Calder, City Manager, said there will be a going away party before the end of the week. He is very appreciative for all of her efforts. B. Presentation of a Retirement Plaque to Rick Woodard, WRF Technician III, and his thirty years of service to the City of Elko, and matters related thereto. INFORMATION ONLY - NON ACTION ITEM Mayor Keener presented Rick Woodard with a plaque for his 30 years of service. Rick Woodard stated the City has been a great job. He is excited about what is in store going forward. He thanked the City for the opportunity. Mike Haddenham, WRF Superintendent, said he and Rick have been through a lot at the plant and they have done some good things. Rick will be missed. Jim Foster, Airport Manager, said Rick was part of the original snow removal team at the airport. He would show up at 3:00 am and then go to his regular job. He was the ultimate team player we all try to be. D. Presentation of an appreciation plaque to former Planning Commissioner Gratton Miller for his service, and matters related thereto. INFORMATION ITEM ONLY – NON ACTION ITEM Mayor Keener thanked Grattan Miller for his work on the Planning Commission. June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 2 of 29  F. Presentation by Richard Fale, Founder & Partner of Pacific Sports International, and matters related thereto. INFORMATION ONLY - NON ACTION ITEM Richard Fale, Pacific Sports International, explained they had a great meeting today at the ECVA. He gave an overview of what they do and what they are hoping to achieve in Elko. They help develop rugby players from all over the world. Typically, they are training 1500-1700 athletes at a time, using the latest sports technology. There is a lot of work to do in order to build out a new facility in Elko and they are excited about it. They don't want their presence to be a disruption to the community but they do want to be part of it. They are looking at properties, air travel and other items. They are interested in the recreation facilities the City is looking to build out. Mayor Keener was pleased to hear they are still interested in Elko and offered to meet with him. Councilman Stone said the ECVA was able to award them with a $30,000 sponsorship so they have some skin in the game. It will help them with some events coming up in the next few months. Mr. Fale said the success of this will be contingent upon working closely with the City of Elko. IV. COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC Pursuant to N.R.S. 241, this time is devoted to comments by the public, if any, and discussion of those comments. No action may be taken upon a matter raised under this item on the agenda until the matter itself has been specifically included on a successive agenda and identified as an item for possible action. ACTION WILL NOT BE TAKEN Luke Fitzgerald, Koinonia Construction, handed out a letter and read it into the record (attached). Mayor Keener noted this is on the public record now and it is being investigated. Dusty Shipp, Braemar Construction, said we are builders/developers/business owners. We don't enjoy coming up here and talking about this. We want to get back to business but feel they are being forced to come up here and make these complaints. Nothing happens fast so they will keep asking for the help in resolving this. They have had multiple meetings with Curtis Calder and there has not been any resolution. He brought a copy of the letter he read at the last meeting for Mr. Calder. He would like the findings to be placed on a future council meeting after it is investigated. He read a letter from himself (attached). Catherine Wines, 421 Railroad Street, handed out a letter (attached). She is an architect and felt that some of these things need to be heard. We have tried to talk about them for years and we haven't been heard. Chuck Petersen, Express Carwash, stated he is not a builder or contractor. He has done a lot of development over the years but has paid someone to do it for him. He has had great luck with the City. Scott Wilkinson has done a lot to help him. He is trying to build a new carwash and has ran into some problems. There are supply chain issues, etc. and on top of all of that, they cannot get a building permit. He has never ran into this and doesn't know why. He felt this could be fixed. From what he June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 3 of 29  hears, there is a lot of bottleneck. He complained about WC3 checking and demanding changes to his plans that he already paid a licensed engineer and architect to design. There has to be a better way. Now he is trying to store all the equipment until they can get the permit and the building started. Arnold Beck, Beck Built Homes, read a letter (attached). Jim Winer, 700 Idaho Street, said he filed his affidavit and grievance 9/13/2018. That was 3.5 years ago and some of the items stated in the affidavit have been repeated in what has been brought up lately. These are patterns that keep repeating. He never knew the details of what other developers have experienced but they all seem similar to his own experiences. It has taken a lot of bravery on these folks to come forward. Mr. Petersen stated he had a fine working relationship in the past with Mr. Wilkinson, and so had he. This was when Mr. Wilkinson was the Development Manager. There used to be a good cooperative working relationship. Something happened since then and it is not the situation now. Staff references the Master Plan like it is set in stone but it can be changed. We have some good people at the City that want to help. At meetings they look like they feel like they cannot say anything. He runs into staff later on at a social setting and they give suggestions to what he can do. He didn't understand why they don't say anything during meetings. Things have not improved since he filed his grievance. It will not get any better until situations are dealt with. When his grievance was investigated, the City hired an attorney. He sat down with Mr. Calder and the attorney and she said that on one of his main points in his grievance, there was nothing that said Mr. Wilkinson could not do what he did. He was told something would be changed so that Mr. Wilkinson could not do that again. He never followed up to find out if that ever happened. He requested that he be told if that was ever changed. Mayor Keener noted we have a lot of work to do to rebuild bridges with the development community. With government, nothing happens as fast as we would like to see it happen. He asked for patience. BREAK Luke Fitzgerald handout Dusty Shipp handout Catherine Wines handout Beck Homes handout XIII. 5:30 P.M. PUBLIC HEARING A. Review, consideration, and possible action to adopt Resolution No. 16-22, a resolution and order vacating a portion of Carlin Court Right-of-Way, consisting of an area approximately 1,000 sq. ft. abutting APN 001-462-004 & 001-462-009, which are located within the City of Elko, Nevada, to the abutting property owners Luis C. and Karen A. Hernandez, filed and processed as Vacation No. 3-22, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 4 of 29  Planning Commission considered this agenda item at their regular meeting June 7, 2022 and forward a recommendation for City Council to adopt a resolution which conditionally approves Vacation 3-22. CL Cathy Laughlin, City Planner, explained this was the second time we have seen this. This is vacating a portion of Carlin Court so they can put in a retaining wall and public improvements. Planning Commission recommended approval . Mayor Keener called for public comments without a response. ** A motion was made by Council Member Stone, seconded by Council Member Morris to adopt Resolution No. 16-22, which contains conditions as recommended by the Planning Commission. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) B. Second reading, public hearing, and possible adoption of Ordinance No. 871, an ordinance amending Title 3, Chapter 3, Section 20(J) (Power, Communications And Gas Utilities), and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION The first reading of Ordinance No. 871 was conducted on June 14, 2022. MR Michele Rambo, Development Manager, explained this is the second reading. There have been no changes since the first reading and she had not heard from the public. Mayor Keener called for public comments without a response. ** A motion was made by Council Member Simons, seconded by Council Member Puccinelli to approve second reading, public hearing and adopt Ordinance No. 871. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Approval of the June 14, 2022 Minutes - Regular Session The minutes were approved by general consent. VI. PRESENTATION (Cont.) June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 5 of 29  E. Brief presentation and possible acceptance of a renewal proposal from Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool (POOL), and approval for payment from FY 2022/2023 Funds in the amount of $680,853.51, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION As a member of the Insurance Pool, the City of Elko owns a share of the equity that forms the basis for its financial strength. CC Your agenda packet includes an overview of coverage offered for the following fiscal year. The City of Elko's total program costs for FY 2022/2023 are $680,853.51, which now includes environmental liability coverage and represents a 15.8% increase over the current year. CC Dain Uriarte, LP Insurance, explained the increase in the insurance premiums. He gave a presentation. Mayor Keener asked about the cyber audit and when it was done. We have invested 6 figures just beefing up our cyber security. Is there any consideration for that in the premiums? Mr. Uriarte thought there was a risk management grant we can apply for to help get reimbursed for the expense. Mayor Keener asked for a recommendation on the change in the deductible. Mr. Uriarte answered he was neutral on that but he did create a spreadsheet showing what could be saved using the $10,000 deductible. He personally felt staying with the $5,000 deductible was the better option. Curtis Calder, City Manager, said the City allows him to participate on POOL/PACT Boards and that allows us some cost savings in our premiums. A lot of the extra services are free to us. He recommended staying with the $5,000 deductible. ** A motion was made by Council Member Morris, seconded by Council Member Simons to approve the renewal proposal from Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool (POOL), and approve invoice for payment from FY 2022/2023 funds in the amount of $680,853.51, with the $5,000 deductible. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) VIII. PERSONNEL A. Employee Introduction: 1) Jim Kerr, Water Superintendent, WRF Present and introduced. X. NEW BUSINESS June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 6 of 29  B. Review, consideration, and possible approval of a Technology Services Agreement with Oasis Online, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION The City has contracted with Oasis Online since July, 2020 as the City of Elko IS Manager. This contract continues this relationship for 3 years. JB Curtis Calder, City Manager, said Dan and Oasis have done a great job. We feel we are getting good value for the dollar. He recommended the three year renewal. Mayor Keener said he has heard nothing but good about Oasis. He was in support in the renewal. ** A motion was made by Council Member Stone, seconded by Council Member Simons for approval of a 3-year Oasis Online Technology Services Agreement beginning July 1, 2022. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) C. Review, consideration and possible approval of a request from Ruby Mountain Hot Air Inc. to close Chris Sheerin Way on July 29, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. for the Ruby Mountain Balloon Festival Night Glow, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION. They have being doing the Night Glow in the main city park for several years and have found some issues with safety that they feel it necessary for them to close Chris Sheerin Way. Staff has reviewed their request and recommend approval. Katherine, CK Connections and Events, hired by Ruby Mountain Hot Air Inc., to assist them with explaining the public portion of the balloon festival. Attached to their application was a map. They have struggled with using the restroom during the event. It was dangerous. Last year the food trucks were along the outside event. This year we would like to create a food court area. When we close that section it provides space for the trucks and a way for the balloons to be brought into the event without worrying about double parking. It will also create a safe corridor to the bathrooms. We would not be closing the rest of the parking. We are just requesting the area near the museum. Mayor Keener called for public comments without a response. ** A motion was made by Council Member Simons, seconded by Council Member Puccinelli to approve the request from Ruby Mountain Hot Air Inc. to close Chris Sheerin Way on July 29, 2022 from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm for the Ruby Mountain Balloon Festival Night Glow. The motion passed. (4-0 Councilman Stone abstained.) D. Review, consideration and possible action to provide direction to Staff regarding possible amendments to the City of Elko Fire Code, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 7 of 29  The current version of the City of Elko Fire Code, adopted by the City Council in 2019, incorporates certain portions of the 2018 Northern Nevada Amendments to the International Fire Code. Currently, the City performs certain fire and life-safety functions pursuant to authority granted under an Interstate Interlocal Contract with the State Fire Marshal. That Contract requires, among other things, that the City enforce the Fire Code as adopted by the City Council. It also prohibits the City from granting waivers, variances, or approvals of alternate methods or materials differing from the regulations or adopted codes and standards of the State Fire Marshal Division. The City Council could, potentially, amend the City Fire Code to relax or eliminate certain requirements that are not mandated by the State of Nevada, to include adding waiver provisions. However, any such amendments should be coordinated with the State Fire Marshal, since the failure of the City to comply with the Interlocal Contract could result in the City’s regulatory authority reverting to the State Fire Marshal. DMS Dave Stanton, City Attorney, said we have a fire code that doesn't have a lot of flexibility built into it. There will be an appeal that involves the fire code. The language of the fire code is strict and it was based on recommendations of a committee and adopted in 2019. The issue has come up as to whether there should be some mechanism for waiving requirements in the fire code under certain circumstances. For example, the applicability of a sprinkler system requirement for residences. He would like Council to listen to the Fire Official and comments from the public and possibly provide some direction as to what can be done to the fire code. All of this is dependent upon the State Fire Marshal weighing in on what these modifications would entail. There is an interlocal agreement with the State Fire Marshal that allows the city to perform a lot of the functions that the State would ordinarily perform. If the Council decides to create a waiver provision, there needs to be criteria. There needs to be some factors that would be considered either by the Fire Official or the City Council. Chief Snyder explained back in 2017, Chief Griego and Fire Marshal Holmes were part of the committee for the Northern Nevada Amendments. When these amendments were being developed for the 2018 fire codes, solutions were developed with the help of developers and the State Contractors Board. Some agencies are stricter than what we have adopted and some have gone the other direction. When this was adopted, the safety of the community was considered while they kept in mind what the City had to respond to fires. Based on their recommendation, these amendments that were adopted are accurate for the level of protection we can provide to the City right now. There might be avenues for us to look at but the reality is that these amendments are accurate to what we can provide to the citizens. Mayor Keener said when this was adopted we never envisioned this would apply to residential structures. He asked if this was the first case to come before the board? Chief Snyder answered since the code adoption, this is the first residence we were made aware of that would require the sprinkler system. A house of 5,000 sq. ft. would require 25-28 firefighters to adequately combat a fire. We would be lucky to get 15 to respond. We look at this particular code as sprinklers are required if the house is 5,000 sq. ft. or bigger, or if it is above 2 stories. We don't consider a basement when we look at the stories. We only consider what is above ground. It does not have to meet both of those requirements, just one. So if the house is over 5,000 sq. ft. it requires the June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 8 of 29  sprinklers. If the house is over 2 stories it requires the sprinklers. There is not an "and" in the code, it is an "or". Councilman Stone wondered if it would advantageous to review what we have with a fine-toothed comb to give ourselves options for waivers in specific situations. Chief Snyder answered we can always look at this but we are looking at life safety requirements. If we waive these requirements but there can be catastrophic lessons to learn. Our ultimate goal is to make sure the community is safe and our responders are safe. Councilman Stone asked if we have residences that have sprinklers in their homes. Jeff Ford, Building Official, answered there are 12. Councilwoman Simons wondered if they could look at things that make the house easier to defend. The distance from fire hydrants or a fire station for example. Can we work those into the code? Chief Snyder answered some jurisdictions have done that but he wasn't sure that would work in our community. Mayor Keener opened the item up for public comment. This item is regarding the code and later on we will have one for an appeal. These are separate items. Zach Gerber, Gerber Law Office, representing Braemar Construction, said the two agenda items are linked. The issue is about an interpretation of the fire code. He handed out a packet (attached). Specifically, the issue is the interpretation of a table in the code. There have been inconsistencies as to how this table has been enforced and other communities enforce it differently too. By his interpretation, the house would need to meet both of the requirements listed on the table in order to trigger the sprinkler requirement. This was adopted by the City. Other municipalities have adopted this. Since 2019, there have been over 10 homes that he was aware of that had over 5,000 sq. ft. that were approved by the City of Elko that were not required to have sprinklers. On October 25, 2021, a building permit was issued for the Braemar Home/Nielson Home in question. It was approved by the City and has had several inspections. It is very close to being finished. There is a fire hydrant in the front yard too. On June 9, Braemar was contacted to come to a meeting where they were told they needed to stop construction of the home and it would need fire sprinklers. The reason this interpretation is incorrect is because the City has not been enforcing it. Now this new enforcement came out that forced them to stop. Other municipalities have also come to a consensus that a home with 2 stories and a basement would not need sprinklers. He had spoken to many other municipalities about their requirements. Elko County doesn't require fire sprinklers either. When he saw that enforcement had not been consistent in the City, he became concerned. The home was approved by WC3 and had been reviewed several times. The City Council held a special meeting where several contractors voiced complaints. Shortly after that, on June 9th, the meeting was held where the City immediately changed the enforcement of their code. This could cost the buyer $50,000 and delay the construction by a couple of months. That is arbitrary and capricious enforcement. There is no way around it. When they stop construction of a home when they are nearly done and not allow them to finish the construction. He wondered how that decision came about. As an attorney, he tries to look June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 9 of 29  for resolutions. It has two parts in this case: 1) amend the code to read that homes over 5,000 and more than two stories would be required to have fire sprinklers; 2) enforce and require the code that it not require the Nielsons to have the sprinkler system based on the prior enforcement of the City and by what other municipalities have done. This will allow Elko to move forward with certainty. It also avoids an arbitrary result. Mr. Stanton wanted clarification. Was he asking for an amendment that clarifies that if the fire area is 5,000 sq. ft. but not more than two stories, it will not require the fire sprinklers. Or if a home is more than two stories in height but it is not over 5,000 sq. ft. will also not require fire sprinklers. If it meets both of those requirements, a sprinkler system will be required. Mr. Gerber answered yes, that was his position. Dusty Shipp, said Jeff stated we have 12 homes with fire sprinklers. He thought all of those were townhomes. They are considered single family homes but they are not the same animal we are looking at. Nothing is black and white and that is why we are here. If you look at the code that was adopted by Elko states fire area. Fire area includes a garage, covered patios and basements. The challenge with this is that we are asking for the code to be opened up to allow for variances or waivers. There is a fire hydrant in the front yard. There is 1,000 sq. ft. in the garage. There is 1,600 sq. ft. of an indoor basketball court. That all falls under fire code but in building code, that does not fall into the same definition. It is considered habital space in the building code and that would not include the garage and the gym. The Fire Department is concerned with safety but people are not sleeping in the garage or the gym. The homes on the list are not an entire list. We searched for them quickly and he believed there are more. He was contacted last week regarding this and now several of his homes are going to require fire sprinklers. Other builders will fall under this as well. He believed a clarification of the interpretation is needed. We are seeing homes with big garages with a fire break between the house and the garage. Most homes have tons of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms if there is an issue. A lot of these homes that have been built over the last 10 years, they have unfinished basements. There are rules in the fire code that will not allow those basements to be finished. The City lost a staff member during our last few discussions. When we submit plans to the City, that staff member would check in the plans and check what departments it needed to go to for review. The plans for these homes were never sent over to the Fire Department. Maybe that is why the Fire Department never knew about this. This specific home has had over 50% of the inspections completed. To get fire sprinklers designed and approved will take several months and could cost up to $50,000. When these clients own the lot and they are hired to build the home, every day they are not working on the home, they are paying for interest. To delay this they start bumping into the loan limits. Many of the construction loans only allow for a year to construct the home. When this was brought up a couple of weeks ago, someone made the comment that this might be considered discriminatory. These codes were not written thinking that someone would want an indoor gym that was half the size of the house. Julie Rich, EXP Realty, representing the family that owns the home in question, the Nielsons. They could not be present. In August of 2020, they began working with the family. By September 2020 they listed their home and it was sold in November 2020. The family has been in an apartment with three boys since then. They are facing another delay of an unknown time and a cost of a fire suppression system of about $50,000. The family has already suffered an added expense of $50,000 due to an increase in interest rates. Both the parents are pharmacists in the area. The clients are all for June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 10 of 29  safety and would have put in a fire suppression system in the beginning if they had known. They are asking Council put themselves in their shoes and see how they would feel. Mike Stevens, Beck Built Homes, said Elko City has started enforcing Fire Codes. Most Cities will have a workshop before an adoption so everyone can make amendments. We need to make our own amendments to benefit everyone. After amendments are put in place, there is a 90-day grace period before full enforcement. That way the contractors can let their clients know of any changes. He was asking for the same courtesy. Curtis Calder, City Manager, noted when these codes were adopted on the building code side, Council specifically removed the requirement for sprinklers. In his estimation, the intent of Council was to never require sprinklers for homes. It sounded like everyone was on board that sprinklers were not going to be required for homes. When the fire code was adopted this issue was not discussed. If it had been discussed, things would have been stopped. He was concerned about things on the commercial side. He has been dealing with complaints on commercial buildings and the interpretation of the code. If we are going to change the interpretation of the code we need to consider what other members of the interlocal agreement are doing. Mayor Keener asked if this was going to be subject to the approval of the State Fire Marshal? Mr. Stanton said it was more of us presenting our changes to the State Fire Marshal and make sure they don't have a concern. Mayor Keener said the only discussion about sprinklers he remembers dealt with multi-family residential. Chief Snyder said the package he handed out was included in the presentation when the fire code was adopted. Mr. Calder said when we adopt a new code, there is a 6-month grace period. After that grace period everyone is building under that new code. He was not sure the legality of it, but since this is something we are just discovering, it would make sense to give a 6-month grace period. Staff is responsible for enforcing the policies. He didn't recall a discussion of the fire code requiring the fire sprinklers where the building code won't. He thought people assumed it was not required. Chief Snyder explained he spoke to the State Fire Marshal's office and was told that as long as we follow the 2018 International Fire Codes or stricter, we will be fine with the interlocal agreement. It is the 2018 amendments that were adopted are stricter. We just can't go below the 2018 IFC codes. ** A motion was made by Council Member Stone to direct staff to review current fire codes, residential and commercial, and review language and look at options for waivers, including specific language in situation such as sprinkler options, residential square footage, response times and hydrant distances, other language that may need to be changed and cleaned up for local Elko needs and also following Interlocal Agreement. The motion died for lack of a second. June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 11 of 29  Kelly Wooldridge, City Clerk, asked that a Business Impact Statement be started. Mr. Stanton said in terms of a business impact statement, there would need to be a direct and significant economic burden on a business and it would depend upon what we do. If we are not going to burden a business it may not be required. The motion is instructing staff to do all these things but are we coming back with recommendations for code changes or an ordinance for first reading? Mr. Calder recommended a first reading so the house isn't delayed any further than necessary. Councilman Stone asked if the motion should include "do the business impact statement if deemed necessary, and come back with proposed ordinance for first reading." ** A motion was made by Council Member Stone, seconded by Council Member Morris to direct staff to review current fire codes, residential and commercial, and review language and waiver options to include specific language and situations such as sprinkler options, residential square footage, response times and hydrant distances, other language that may need to be cleaned up to local Elko needs, do a business impact statement of deemed necessary, and a proposed ordinance for a first reading and recommendations. Lynn Hoffman, 1085 Barrington Ave., Elko, thought this was one of the craziest discussions she has heard in a long time. She thought Zach's proposal was good. The City Manager talked about how City Council didn't want sprinklers in residential homes. What you have now is more restrictive than what the Fire Marshal says you need to be. It seems to be a no-brainer that Council can make some changes. Dusty Shipp said one of the things we asked for on May 17th was to be heard for code changes. We would like that discussion. One of the things we want to discuss is fire sprinklers. We don't want to rush this and want to do it right but we have a situation that requires us to rush. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) XII. PETITION, APPEAL, AND COMMUNICATION C. Review, consideration and possible action concerning an appeal by Braemar Construction LLC of the requirement to install automatic sprinklers in a single- family residence located at 2060 Eagle Ridge Loop, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION The City Building Department issued Permit 21-295 on November 12, 2021 for the construction of a single-family residential structure located at 2060 Eagle Ridge Loop. This structure, currently under construction by Braemar Construction LLC, has been determined to have a fire area greater than 5,000 square feet. For that reason, the structure is subject to the automatic sprinkler requirement contained in the 2018 Northern Nevada Amendments to the 2018 International Fire Code in the Elko City Fire Code. The criteria for this requirement are contained in Table 903.2.2, entitled “Required Automatic Sprinklers by Fire Area, Response Time and Height of Structures Designed and Constructed with the June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 12 of 29  International Residential Code,” which provides that residential structures with a fire area equal to or greater than 5,000 square feet require automatic sprinklers. Dusty Shipp of Braemar Construction LLC met with representatives of the Building Department and Fire Department on June 9, 2022 to discuss the automatic sprinkler requirement. On June 14, 2022, the Fire Department followed up with a letter to Dusty Shipp explaining that an automatic sprinkler was required for the structure due to the Fire Code. On June 21, 2022, Dusty Shipp requested that this item be placed on the next upcoming Council meeting. Elko City Code Section 6-1-6 (Appeals) provides that “whenever the fire code official disapproves an application or refuses to grant a permit applied for, or when it is claimed that the provisions of the code do not apply or that the true intent and meaning of the code have been misconstrued or wrongly interpreted, the applicant may appeal from the decision of the fire code official to the city council within thirty (30) days from the date of the decision appealed.” However, the Fire Code does not contain a provision permitting requirements to be waived. SAW Chief Snyder explained this was brought to their attention when the Building Department was doing an inspection. Jeff Ford notified the Fire Marshal and they met to discuss the situation. It was decided that they get in touch with Mr. Shipp and explain the problem and the fire code situation. The fire code does not have a waiver process but there is an appeal process. The Fire Department never issued a stop work order. He gave a presentation. Jeff Ford, Building Official, went over the process of when plans come in. The Building Department does not regulate sprinklers. We don't hold permits up for sprinklers. We don't review for them or even see the plans for them. Dave Stanton, City Attorney, said we are bound by the code as written. We heard a lot about the situation on this specific home and we have heard ideas of how to modify the code. Right now we are bound by the code as written. If Council finds that the language is ambiguous then Council has the ability to interpret the language in a reasonable way. If Council does not find the language is ambiguous, then the Council is bound to follow the plain meaning. We heard a lot of talk about enforcement and other houses/situations. He doesn't know the details of those other residences. We talked about the issue of equal protection. If something was not enforced in the past, that does not create a defense. If the argument is that the City decides it will start enforcing more strictly, then the fact that it wasn't enforced in the past is not a defense. If there is an arbitrary standard for enforcing the code provision, then there is an issue. It sounds as if the Council's direction is to change the code and create a different standard. Zach Gerber, Gerber Law Offices, representing Braemar Construction, gave his interpretation of the code. This is not a code section, it is a table. When reviewing a table, it is loosely written and its visual. When explaining things in court he uses words to avoid ambiguity. He then may use a table to further explain. This only uses a table and it is ambiguous. Residences should not have a sprinkler system. If it is ambiguous, you can look at external things. One of those could be what was the City Council's understanding or what did they want to have happen? They did not intend to have sprinklers June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 13 of 29  in residences. He went over what other municipalities have adopted. It is his understanding after all the calls he made today is that this table is being interpreted as 5,000 sq. ft. AND over two stories. The only risk here is the risk from the State Fire Marshal but that is not really a risk at all. He requested the City Council interpret this as other municipalities have interpreted this and find that if you have over 5,000 sq. ft. and over two stories, then you are required to install a fire sprinkler system. Curtis Calder, City Manager, added when we adopted the codes, in Mr. Stanton's reading of the Nevada Amendments, they are citing the residential fire codes but when we adopted the building codes, we specifically excluded the International Residential Code with regard to the fire sprinklers. From his estimation, assuming that is the case, if we have excluded the International Residential Code in the adoption of the Building Codes with regard to fire sprinklers, regardless of what the fire code says, it should be not be applicable. That is one more element of ambiguity. Why would we exclude if from the building code but include it in the fire code? Mr. Stanton said sometimes attorneys disagree. In terms of what you are looking at and ambiguities, and we have spoken about intent. None of that matters. You have this code in front of you right now. Thoughts of changes to code do not create ambiguity right now. If you decide this language right here has a plain and ordinary meaning, that is what you have to enforce. What other jurisdictions have done does not matter. You would not go outside this document to interpret it if you can read it and apply it. We need to do this right. Other things like the cost of construction or the increase of construction is not allowed to be considered on an appeal. Mr. Gerber said he agreed and disagreed. The table is ambiguous. The Council needs to determine that the table is ambiguous. There is no wording, just a table. There are many people and jurisdictions that have interpreted this table differently. That means it is ambiguous. The intent was residential construction would not be subject to sprinkler systems. Doing the right thing is not singling out the Nielsons in this situation. In a month we will have the ambiguity cleared up. The house will be completed shortly. The C of O will probably issue after this ordinance is passed. He asked that the construction not be held up. Mayor Keener proposed a motion. ** A motion was made by Mayor Keener with respect to 2060 Eagle Ridge Loop to remove the encumbrance of automatic sprinklers based on these findings, that in 2019 it was never the Council's intent to have single family home construction subject to sprinklers, secondly the table is subject to multiple interpretations and is therefore ambiguous, and it is discriminatory to suddenly begin enforcement of this fire code without any notice, and furthermore, as we heard from the City Manager, this code may not be applicable. The motion died for a lack of a second. Councilwoman Simons wasn't sure she thought this was discriminatory. No matter how this got into code, it is there. She thought the chart was clear but she can see that this can be ambiguous to some people. Councilman Stone noted there was nothing about response time on the chart. June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 14 of 29  Chief Snyder said we did not adopt a response time. Councilwoman Simons said she can see how it can be interpreted differently. ** A motion was made by Council Member Simons, seconded by Council Member Stone that we no longer require family residence located at 2060 Eagle Ridge Loop to install automatic sprinklers due to the true intent and meaning of the code having been misconstrued or wrongly interpreted because the code is ambiguous and capable of two or more interpretations. Nathan Beck, Beck Homes, said they have the same issue on a house at 2955 Sage Crest Drive. This house is not in construction but at the Building Department waiting for approval. Councilwoman Simons explained it has to be agenized so the public can be notified. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) VII. CONSENT AGENDA A. Review, consideration, and possible approval for the Elko Police Department to apply for a grant through Kinross Gold Corp., in the amount of twenty-six thousand dollars ($26,000), to assist with costs associated with purchasing advanced digital forensic software and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION This software will assist detectives greatly in examining digital devices and extracting crucial information from cell phones, tablets, storage media, etc. Mayor Keener thought the way the grant application was written, it was written in the first person. It needs to be written to explain how this will help the department and not in the first person. Lt. Palhegyi said this was written by a detective that is part of the group that does the forensic downloads. It is obviously for the entire agency. Curtis Calder, City Manager, said any time there is a grant, there are deadlines and such. The City Council adopted a policy that said any grant we apply for needs approval by the City Council. The reason for that was we were applying for grants as staff and being awarded them and they had big matches. City Council decided we needed to approve these before you apply so we know what the conditions are. ** A motion was made by Council Member Simons, seconded by Council Member Stone to approve the Elko Police Department's request to apply for a grant through Kinross Gold Corp., in the amount of twenty-six thousand dollars ($26.000), to assist with costs associated with purchasing advanced digital forensic software. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 15 of 29  IX. APPROPRIATION A. Review, consideration, and possible issuance of final acceptance for the WRF West Primary Clarifier Recoating & Repairs Project, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION MMI Tank and Industrial Services has completed the clarifier recoating & repairs project. There was one deductive change order in the amount of $3,464.07 for some damaged equipment during sandblasting. With the deduction, the total project cost comes to $136,635.93. Staff recommends the issuance of final acceptance. Mike Haddenham, WRF Superintendent, recommended approval. They were very responsive and did a great job. ** A motion was made by Council Member Morris, seconded by Council Member Stone to approve issue final acceptance in the amount of $136,635.93 The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) C. Review and possible approval of Utility Refunds, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION ** A motion was made by Council Member Simons, seconded by Council Member Stone to approve the utility refunds in the amount of $744.44. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) D. Review and possible approval of Warrants, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION ** A motion was made by Council Member Simons, seconded by Council Member Stone to approve the regular warrants in the amount of $690,245.10. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) E. Review and possible ratification of General Hand-Cut Checks, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION. ** A motion was made by Council Member Simons, seconded by Council Member Stone to Approve the hand-cut checks in the amount of $78,472.91. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 16 of 29  BREAK X. NEW BUSINESS (Cont.) A. Review, consideration, and possible approval of a third amendment to Revocable Permit No. 4-20, filed by Ygoa Ltd., to occupy a portion of the Silver and Third Street Right-of- Ways adjacent to their parcel located at 246 Silver Street to accommodate installation of columns and footings to support a new balcony, remove and replace sidewalk with a hydronic heating system, install electrical conduit, outlets and other electrical hardware, and to install railing, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION A second amendment to the license agreement was approved April 26, 2022. Since that approval, a new design has been submitted for the removal and replacement of the sidewalk and hydronic heating system which was approved in the second amendment. The plans show a railing and miscellaneous electrical which need to be included in the license agreement. CL Cathy Laughlin, City Planner, explained this would be the third amendment to include the electrical and railing. Mayor Keener called for public comments without a response. ** A motion was made by Council Member Puccinelli, seconded by Council Member Stone to approve the Third Amendment to Revocable License Agreement permit #4-21, filed by Ygoa Ltd. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) XI. RESOLUTION AND ORDINANCE A. Review, consideration, and possible approval of Resolution No. 18-22, a resolution providing for the transfer of appropriations between accounts within the City of Elko 2021/2022 Fiscal Budget pursuant to N.R.S. 354.598005, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION This is the annual year-end housekeeping item to transfer funds between functions, and funds as required to fund all budgetary changes that occurred during the fiscal year. JB Curtis Calder, City Manager, said it should be in the packet and is extensive because it covers all the different funds. ** A motion was made by Council Member Morris, seconded by Council Member Stone to approve Resolution No. 18-22, a resolution providing for the transfer of appropriations between accounts within the City of Elko 2021/2022 Fiscal Budget pursuant to N.R.S. 354.598005. June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 17 of 29  The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) XII. PETITION, APPEAL, AND COMMUNICATION (Cont.) A. Ratification of the Police Chief issuing a 30-day temporary retail beer and wine license and issue a regular retail beer and wine license, to Bill Dupree and Amber Johnson-Dupree, DBA 7018 Brewery, LLC, 401 Railroad Street, Elko, NV 89801, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION License was initially granted April 12th of 2022 for a brew pub. They are seeking to expand their retail offerings to include wine. Kelly Wooldridge, City Clerk, requested no action because they actually applied for a full liquor. We will have to bring it back. NO ACTION. B. Review, consideration, and possible action to accept a petition for the vacation of a portion of the West Main Street right-of-way consisting of an area approximately 2,000 sq. ft., filed by Andrea Landa, as attorney-in-fact for P. Michael Marfisi and processed as Vacation No. 4-22, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION The owner has requested the vacation of 10' of right-of-way in order to add additional storage and security to the property by fencing it. CL Cathy Laughlin, City Planner, explained staff met with the applicant and discussed the matter. This is railroad right of way area. They are requesting 10 feet and we have 15 feet extra. This is only the petition and it will go to Planning Commission. This is on West Main Street. Mayor Keener said it will be weird because it will be the only yard out there. He understood the desire for additional security. Ms. Laughlin further explained if we pulled up the GIS you would see that many properties along that area are already occupying the right of way. Mayor Keener called for public comments without a response. ** A motion was made by Council Member Simons, seconded by Council Member Puccinelli to accept the petition for vacation of a portion of the West Main Street right-of-way consisting of an area approximately 2,000 sq. ft., filed by Andrea Landa, as attorney-in-fact for P. Michael Marfisi and processed as Vacation No. 4-22. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) IX. APPROPRIATIONS (Cont.) June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 18 of 29  B. Review, consideration, and possible approval for Staff to enter into a Professional Services Agreement with MGB+A, The Grassli Group, for the design of the Sports Complex Phase 2 project in the amount of $395,182.00, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION MGB+A was the lead design firm for the initial phase of the Sports Complex, and has offered this proposal to continue project. Staff had a positive experience working with MGB+A on the initial phase, and looks forward to working with them again. The proposed schedule provides a completed design by January 2023. BT James Wiley, Parks and Recreation Director, explained the reason this is before Council is due to the proposed project for the events center. In order to help that project along we need to complete phase 2 of the Sports Complex. This price tag is in the realm of half of what we paid for phase 1. It was also discussed whether or not we go with a different firm but we would have to go out and do a new RFP process and it may cost more money since we would hire a firm that was not familiar with the work already done. The initial master plan never anticipated we would need another full-sized field due to the loss of fields. Some adjustments will have to be made to accommodate the larger fields. Mayor Keener called for public comments without a response. ** A motion was made by Council Member Simons, seconded by Council Member Morris to approve the request from Staff to enter into a Professional Services Agreement with MGB+A, The Grassli Group, for the design of the Sports Complex Phase 2 project, in the amount of $395,182. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) XI. RESOLUTION AND ORDINANCE (Cont.) B. Review, consideration, and possible approval of Resolution No. 19-22, a resolution authorizing augmentation of the 2021/2022 Fiscal Year Budget of the General Fund, increasing appropriations by $5,893,939 from $42,910,256 to $45,504,195 to account for unanticipated revenues, pursuant to NRS 354.598005, and matters related thereto. FOR POSSIBLE ACTION The General Fund had increased revenues as detailed below in the amount of $5,893,939. The funds will be used to for general fund payroll due to lost revenue ($5,238,433) and business grants ($500,000) (per the City of Elko American Rescue Plan Act Fund Distribution Policy), Police Department JAG grant reimbursable items ($87,506) and to reimburse the Fire Department for wages and overtime due to wildland fire fighting ($68,000). American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Grant Revenue = $5,738,433 Police Department JAG Grants = $87,506 County reimbursed wildland firefighter costs = $68,000 June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 19 of 29  Councilwoman Simons felt the amounts listed were incorrect. Curtis Calder, City Manager, said there was a typo on the Resolution and should be $48,804,195. He recommended approval. This is a housekeeping issue. ** A motion was made by Council Member Puccinelli, seconded by Council Member Stone to approve Resolution No. 19-22 augmenting the General Fund NRS 354.598005 by $5,893,939, with the noted correction on the agenda item and the resolution. There is a typo and the number listed as $45,504,195 should be $48,804,195. The motion passed unanimously. (5-0) XIV. REPORTS A. Mayor and City Council Mayor Keener attended the Battle Born Youth Challenge Academy graduation event. The ribbon cutting at the new ball fields was great. He reminded everyone the League of Cities annual conference will be in Las Vegas in early August. Councilwoman Simons stated she will be gone the second meeting in July. Mayor Keener thought he may be gone the first meeting in July. B. City Manager Curtis Calder reported he and Jim attended the Jump Start 2022 Air Service Development Conference in Reno a couple of weeks ago. They had some meetings with airlines and hope something will bear fruit. All of these airlines are facing pilot shortages and delays. We hope to have something lined up before the SkyWest agreement expires in December. If we lose air service in Elko, we are going to have big problems. Councilwoman Simons asked if the rugby possibility was mentioned. Jim Foster answered he had a meeting with Richard Fale before one of the meetings he had. They did briefly talk to them about a possible charter service. Prior to that he reached out to the Maverick Casino guys to see if they might be interested. He met with Richard Fale again today and talked more about what they will need to get people in and out of the area. They are proposing 15,000 - 20,000 people a year more than we see now. Mr. Calder said this keeps being brought up in public comment, and he is not sure since this City Council is a different City Council than when it happened, but this constant reiteration of the Assistant City Manager structure and whether it is an appointed official position or whether it is a management level position. He can write up a memo and get it to City Council with the specifics but generally speaking, he was directed in 2009, or maybe one of the years to either side of that, but he was directed to reorganize the development function at the City of Elko because the City Engineer, who was Ferron June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 20 of 29  Konakis, resigned. It was a massive reorganization effort. It took a lot of effort and a lot of time. There were numerous Council Meetings and numerous structures were proposed. They approved the reorganization plan. The first Assistant City Manager that was hired under that reorganization was Delmo Andreozzi. He was not an appointed official. The last appointed official that worked at the Assistant City Manager was Charles Williams. The City Council, when he asked if they wanted him to delete that position from the code, because we were deleting other positions from the code, they said, "no, we want to keep it in case we want to have an appointed Assistant City Manager. When Delmo left, we went through a recruitment process just like we do for any other position in the City, and Scott Wilkinson was selected for the position. He was hired and promoted by him and Mr. Wilkinson reports to him and not the City Council. He was not sure how much more time we are going to waste on this. He offered to write a report. The City staff didn't do anything wrong with regard to how we hired Delmo Andreozzi or Scott Wilkinson. There are folks around here making accusations that don't know what they are talking about and don't know the history. There is nothing in code other than what's there. If people are familiar with other City or County organizations, it is not unique to have two or three assistant city managers. You might have an assistant over the utilities and you might have one over the development. Just look at the City of Reno or the City of Sparks. This provides the Council some options. If the City Council would like for him to delete is from code, it is as simple as bringing an ordinance that we will do a first reading and a second reading. If City Council wants to revisit how we hire people, he will have to get specific direction from the City Council because the current Assistant City Manager works for him under the authority he is granted by the City Charter. The City Charter cannot be changed by the City Council; it can only be changed by the Nevada Legislature. If you want the charter changed, we have to start talking about it before the next legislative session. Councilwoman Simons asked if the Charter says he hires the Assistant City Manager. Mr. Calder answered it says he hires everybody but the appointed officials. Councilwoman Simons stated she didn't know how everyone else felt, but she would feel a lot better if they were in step with what it said in code. Do we want to start doing what code says or do we want to change code so that it matches what we are doing? Mr. Calder said this is just public comment. He was just letting Council know. That would be a separate discussion and this is more for the public. What happens is he sends members of the public responses to emails. Those emails then get circulated amongst the public and there is a lot of misinformation out there. Now he has people that he has never met in his entire life making accusations that there is some nefarious activity at the City of Elko. He was just there to tell them what the facts are. He was directed by the City Council. It's been approved by the City Council. There is nothing nefarious going on. He would rather spend time solving problems than going around in circles. We are expending a lot of Human Resources time and we are expending a lot of attorney time. If there is confusion with the City Council, get with him. City Council has four employees that they direct. They direct the City Manager, Police Chief, Fire Chief and the City Clerk. There is no one else they directly supervise. Everyone else is supervised by Appointed Officials. That's the way it works. Whether people like it or not, that's just the facts. Mayor Keener asked if the City Sexton position was exed out yet. June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 21 of 29  Mr. Calder said he could not recall if it was deleted from the Code. He didn't think we did that and that it is listed in the Charter. If it is in the Charter, there is a difference between the City Code and the City Charter. We are a Charter city. That means the City Charter can only be changed by the Nevada Legislature. Just like when we were trying to make a change with the municipal judge, which is listed in the Charter, last session, and they didn't do it. We spent a lot of time and effort to try to change the City Charter and the Nevada Legislature said, "no, you can't change it." If there are to be Charter changes, we need to get ahead of that. We have to get a bill draft put together. We would have to coordinate that with Pete Goicoechea and we have to get a lot of things done. In the end, he just wanted to clarify that because that's just a red herring that keeps coming up. If people have complaints about City employees, they can certainly address it to their supervisor, and in this case, he is Mr. Wilkinson's supervisor. He's not going to do the investigation. He is going to refer it to Human Resources. Human Resources is going to work with Legal Counsel. All this contention that there is conflicts of interests and all of that, Curtis Calder didn't fall off a turnip truck. He knows what he is doing. If Council wants to meet with him privately and give him some specific direction to bring something back to the Council, he would be happy to do it. But he is working under the rules we have today. He is being polite and responding to citizens. Citizens are then taking his emails and distributing them to god-knows-who and a lot of misinformation goes along with that. He has limited resources and he is not going to keep answering the same question over and over. Mayor Keener said they want him to spend his time on productive things. And to that end, he thought everything that he said was stated very succinctly. He asked Diann Byington if she could transcribe that and email it to Curtis, and if Curtis could use that as a baseline for his memo. Mr. Calder said he would just go back to the minutes and provide the hard copy. He doesn't mind doing it. He's already given it to attorneys in case this came up. Again, it's a non-issue. The City Council has four employees. City Council should know who works for them. If you guys don't like what he is doing, you have every right to bring him before Council and do whatever they need to do. He is an appointed official. The others are not appointed. Mayor Keener said they all understand that but he thought it would help having that and clear up some of the hearsay. It is confusing for members of the public when they see one thing in code, they don't get why it's not that way. Mr. Calder said he has explained that to others, members of the public. It's not a big secret. He has explained it to the City Council numerous times. This was done by a prior City Council. The current Council can do what they want as a City Council. If you don't like the way it is structured, by all means, we can reorganize. But it is the way it is and it went through multiple City Council Meetings, public hearings, people weighed in on it. It was done by the book. It is just the way it is. This is where we are at. He will provide a memo to the City Council and when the public asks them about it, I will have it on file, they will have it on file, give it to the City Clerk and they can circulate it. They can go scrutinize it however they want to do it. It is a big waste of time. Mayor Keener said he know it is. It just keeps getting regurgitated. June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 22 of 29  Mr. Calder said he doesn't appreciate people that don't know him, who have never walked in here since he has been here (and he has been here 24 years), accusing him of conflict of interest when they don't know him. That is the types of folks we are dealing with and that is fine. He will be dealing with the same question over and over again rather than trying to solve problems. If we have to spend every Council Meeting here till midnight, he was game. We can have public comment for hours on end. It doesn't matter to him. We have a process. People may not like the outcome of the process, but we follow the process every single time. And we have policies and we have codes and we follow them. Mayor Keener didn't think anyone on the board was questioning that. Mr. Calder said the public was and this is public comment so he was giving his public comment. That was all he could say right now because he has heard all these demands that the findings be made public, well everyone is going to be really disappointed because that would be illegal. Our City Code says personnel investigation findings are confidential information short of a court order. If these folks want these investigations, there have been investigations done. It's not like we have not done investigations. Bring a court order, you can get your investigation. Without it you are not getting any findings. These are not going to be made public. Councilwoman Simons didn't think we need to reorganize or keep sending these things out to the public. She thought we need to go ahead and change that one portion to reflect what we are doing and then there won't be any more questions. Just get it done. Change out that one little line to what we actually do. Mr. Calder said you would ask to delete it then because that part is not in the Charter; that's in the code. Delete Assistant City Manager from the Code. Councilwoman Simons thought the City Engineer was in the code too. Mayor Keener thought the code also had the Building Official and the Sexton. Kelly Wooldridge said the sexton was not in Charter but it is in Code. Councilwoman Simons said delete is in Code so what we do matches. Mr. Calder said a change in Code is something they can do themselves. Dave Stanton, City Attorney, stated he hoped they weren't reaching a deliberation on this. Councilwoman Simons said they were not deliberating. She was asking that it be placed on the agenda. Mr. Calder said we can put it in the queue but there are some other priorities we want to get taken care of. We can put it queue but it is really a non-issue. He was sitting there with four more letters that will be sent off to specialized outside legal counsel. We are going to follow the process. Every time we have public comment, however many letters we get, we will send those out. That's fine. But we also have another job to do. He has 25 other departments that he oversees. So we need to take care of the other parts of the business too. Council just approved a resolution augmenting the budget June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 23 of 29  by almost $6 million. We are managing ARPA money. We are managing airports. We are managing air service development. We are managing Police Departments, Fire Departments, city code changes. There is a lot going on and we are happy to do it but things are going to slow because these letters have to be dealt with too. It would just be nice that when we get these, that they were actually based on fact. When people he has never met are submitting letters, making suppositions of things that are happening or not happening, we need to correct the record. So he is correcting the record. Councilman Morris said the problem is that Curtis is inundated with this problem and we have so many things on the table we need to deal with. We have the Event Center, we have airline issues, we have problems that are going to affect the whole city and not just a couple of groups. And then we have to concentrate on that. He has been around a long time and he gets frustrated too. You get phone calls and they make accusations where they won't give you anything specific. They tell you he's a bully and he's doing this. Well, he reports directly to Curtis and you have a specific problem, put it in writing and then it will be investigated. It doesn't seem to stop there. The next day there is another phone call. It's ridiculous. He has had enough. Jeff Ford, Building Official, said it gets old. Councilman Morris said we have important stuff to take care of. There was comment from the audience but not into a microphone. Mr. Ford said this is turning into a... Councilman Morris added witch hunt. Mr. Ford said he has people calling from all over the state asking what is going on in Elko. It's getting bad. Councilwoman Simons said it was her understanding that the School District will not take personnel issue comments during public comments. They shut them down. Don't you have to listen to them? If it is about personnel issues, are there separate rules? Should we say if it is about personnel, direct it to Curtis? Mr. Stanton said there are mechanisms for limiting public comment. He was not familiar with that type of a restriction. He heard that if you have a controversial item you can limit comments to five minutes. If somebody becomes disruptive, you can terminate that and the law allows that. He had not heard anything that says that if it relates to personnel. Councilwoman Simons said they don't deal with personnel issues. Mr. Stanton said that is a legitimate response. We are getting an awful lot of discussion on one topic. He felt staff was within their rights to talk about these things but he cautioned Council not to engage in a discussion because it is not an agenized item. June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 24 of 29  Dennis Strickland said since we are venting a bit, basically he was assaulted by someone didn't want to play by the rules. Someone blatantly knew they were cheating and what they built was not what they turned into the Building Department. He went down there, not even wanting to be involved, and tell them they should have known better and they lose their cool, jump in his face and knock him down because they didn't want to play by the rules. That is what is going on around here now. Mr. Ford said they were asked to be lenient when something that we knew was not compliant. That's criminal, isn't it? I'm sick of it. Mayor Keener told Mr. Ford that they know his department is under a tremendous amount of pressure. He has lost two technicians. Mr. Ford said he lost all of his office staff. If you think these guys were bitching before, just hold your hats. Mayor Keener asked if it was Mr. Ford and two inspectors. Mr. Calder answered yes and they are sharing staff with Planning and Development. Shelby is helping out where she can. We are doing everything we can to facilitate and keep the work flow. Mayor Keener asked what is going to happen when the inspections ramp up for the temple? Mr. Ford answered you tell me? Mr. Calder said you are probably going to get a lot of calls, Mayor. Be prepared. A big project like that requires a lot of attention. It's like Komatsu. When Komatsu called with a $50 million project, and they need something right now, we have the resources to stop everything, deal with it and keep everything going. I showed you the statistics on May 17. We processed 100 single family dwelling permits last year. We won't be getting that many out this year. We just don't have the staff to do it. You have the permit side and you have the inspection side. If we continue to lose people it just gets worse. There are no leg chains holding anyone at the City of Elko. We don't have employment contracts with our people where they are guaranteed to be here for a certain amount of time. There are some frustrations and we are working through them. He didn't have a chance to make comment during public comments. He clearly knows that when he sends out emails or text messages to people, they are circulating them. He is doing so in good faith. He is trying to be responsive. If people are taking his communications and turning them around and twisting them, that is not in good faith. It is what it is. He is a public official. He has thick skin and can handle it. In the end, he is all about solving problems and that is what he is going to try to do. He has a lot of problems to solve with 25 departments. We will continue. The City of Elko will be here long after he is gone. We will continue doing the job but there are some structural things everyone needs to be aware of. Councilwoman Simons asked when Karen Wathers' party was. Mr. Calder answered he would send out an email reminder. He thought it was Wednesday night. Mayor Keener asked if they were taking up a collection or donation for a gift? June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 25 of 29  Mr. Calder answered he bought Karen a personal gift from himself and there was no expectation for anyone to do anything unless they want to. The City of Elko was paying for the hors d’oeuvres and it doesn't cost us much to hold the event at the Cowboy Arts and Gear Museum. Councilwoman Simons said if anyone wanted to give her money, she would be happy to go out and pick her up something. C. Assistant City Manager Absent. D. Utilities Director Absent. E. Public Works Mayor Keener noted Dennis was reappointed as the Chairman for SWAC while he was out.. Dennis Strickland thanked for the accolades. He reported 4th Street was repaved. A big patch was done on N. 5th Street. They just completed Chris to Copper. Jennings had another major patch. Things have not gotten much better at the Landfill. Purchasing the Bomag may not have been in the best interest of the public. The water wagon is having an issue too. F. Airport Manager Mayor Keener stated he had lunch at the airport on Saturday. He was wearing shorts and it was cold. Jim Foster answered they keep the temperature set at 68-72 degrees. They can look at adjusting that. G. City Attorney No report. H. Fire Chief No report. I. Police Chief No report. J. City Clerk June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 26 of 29  Kelly Wooldridge reminded everyone of ethics training on Friday. It was scheduled from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. After looking at the calendar, it is actually scheduled for Wednesday. Mayor Keener asked about the election. Ms. Wooldridge answered it went well. It was hectic at first but we worked through it. There was a small issue with Wi-Fi but we figured that out quickly. There was some confusion about where the voting was going to be held but there was a lot of advertising. K. City Planner Cathy Laughlin reported she had Kim send out a reminder for the Rural Planning Conference here in Elko for August 18 and half a day on the 19th. If anyone was interested in attending, she wanted to know so she could pay for it with this years' budget. L. Development Manager Mayor Keener said he was sad to hear about the Code Enforcement Officer. Michele Rambo said she left about two weeks ago. She is back to doing it when she can. We will be doing interviews soon. M. Financial Services Director Absent. N. Parks and Recreation Director Absent. O. Civil Engineer Mayor Keener asked if we were going to have to use the heavy duty anchors like we did for the first three fields at the Sports Complex. Bob Thibault answered yes but now they have a design that works. We will do another geotechnical investigation at the locations of the additional light poles. Mayor Keener asked on the Amtrak design, there was supposed to be a bridge over there? Mr. Thibault answered yes. They did have a meeting today with some Amtrak personnel. The issue of crossing the tracks was brought up. There were discussions of an at grade crossing but it was shut down. What they have been doing is they are using the Greater Area Transit, Get My Ride transit to get people to the other side of the tracks when the train arrives. P. Building Official June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 27 of 29  No report. XV. COMMENTS BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC Pursuant to N.R.S. 241, this time is devoted to comments by the public, if any, and discussion of those comments. No action may be taken upon a matter raised under this item on the agenda until the matter itself has been specifically included on a successive agenda and identified as an item for possible action. ACTION WILL NOT BE TAKEN Mayor Keener thanked Dusty Shipp for hanging out. He thought he could hear the frustration bubbling up. It has been repeated body blows. He thought the chorus was really sabotaging themselves because we have seen the effect it has had on staff. We really want to have a reset. We want to have a collaborative partnering relationship with the building community. It's really difficult right now under the circumstances with so much tension for us to get there. We need the developers to hold back and be patient. Things don't change overnight. In terms of the code, he thought some relief will be coming their way when Council has some of the proposed code changes. Where we can be flexible, like tonight, we are going to do it. We want to see the developers succeed. Their success is our success. Dusty Shipp thanked him for saying that. He had hung out to say a couple of things. He wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do because he heard more things. The reason we addressed Curtis tonight was because we are unclear as to who to talk to. We don't know if we are supposed to talk to Council or Curtis. Over the last several years we have not had great results when we have taken it in a private level. According to the current code, it appears it needs to go to Council. We aren't sure and we don't seem to get a clear answer on that. In regards to the fire sprinklers tonight, he applauded Council for direction to both change the code, or look at it, as well as, the waiver or whatever you called it for what we did on the exact home. None of the group that was here wants to be here. Every week they wonder if they have enough guts to get up there again. They don't want to be here but they don't feel like they have been heard. There has not been a meeting. There has not been anything that has really happened since May 17. Mayor Keener said he talked to Luke and they are planning a meeting. Mr. Shipp said we hear something may be coming up this week. We feel there are two issues and that is why they are coming to Council. When we had the May 17th meeting and we asked for a round table, we didn't expect it to be set up like it was with attorneys, the Contractor's Board. It really set the tone for a poor format of how it went. Tonight's format where we talked about the fire sprinklers, we spent quite a bit of time on that but there was some movement forward. That item was the perfect example of what we should be doing with the half a dozen items we have concerns with. It should be a discussion and if it needs to be in this format then let's do it. We really feel like, as our group is, the issue before us regarding the Building Department and code is minimal but we can't seem to get an ear or a meeting to hear it. So we keep coming asking for that. If there was movement forward, you will probably stop seeing us here on this level. Mayor Keener said he would communicate with Luke. June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 28 of 29  Mr. Shipp said the last thing we want is a situation where we worry about what we say to each other. We want to be partners again with the City. We want to be able to talk and share emails and be partners to solve challenges ahead of us all, and not come up here and all vent. It's not good for any of us. We have bigger problems to deal with today. We had some forward progress tonight. If we could use that as an example of what we are trying to accomplish, he thought that would help solve what Council keeps seeing every couple weeks, and these phones calls and these questions. Trust him, they don't want to make the phone calls either. Mayor Keener asked as far as some of the original problems that led up to the Special Meeting, everyone is on board now with the Master Re-use? We don't see any stop work orders as a result of that anymore. Mr. Shipp answered there have not been any stop work orders but Jeff lost staff. In his eyes, he could draw out a plan on the dry erase board that he thought could solve Jeff's problems and their problems in a matter of a few minutes. He wanted to do that on May 17th but the meeting didn't go that way. He really felt that this was a really simple answer. But now it has probably gotten worse and will continue to get worse as far as how this thing moves forward and is processed. We haven't even addressed the situation. There are no stop work orders, which is a good thing, but it still takes them 2-4 months longer than it should and has in the past to do revisions and get things figured out on that specific item. Mayor Keener said he knew it was harder on everyone. Everyone is operating at red-line across the spectrum, whether you are a supplier, designer, builder, or whatever it is you are doing. We are all trying to do more with less. There being no further business, Mayor Reece Keener adjourned the meeting. Mayor Reece Keener Kelly Wooldridge, City Clerk June 28, 2022 City Council | Minutes Page 29 of 29